News

Yates remains third overall with sixth on stage 6 of the Giro d’Italia

Thu 11 May 2017

British climber Adam Yates has finished sixth on stage six of the Giro d’Italia as the day’s breakaway survived to steal the victory.

The ORICA-SCOTT rider was second across the line amongst the group of main overall contenders, 39seconds behind Silvan Dillier (BMC Racing Team) who beat Jasper Stuyven (Trek – Segafredo) for the victory.

The long 217km stage from Reggio Calabria finished with a punchy two-kilometre climb into Terme Luigiane but with few of the general classification riders willing to exert themselves early in the Tour, the chase effort and their attack on the final climb was limited.

“I felt pretty good at the end there but the break stayed away,” Yates said. “With a stage like this it’s always a bit of a gamble as to if the sprinters can get over, if it’s for the climbers or for the punchier riders.”

“The stage was almost 220km so you’d be working all day for a gamble that might not even come off.

“No teams really wanted to chase. It was only really Cannondale and in the end Michael Woods was first across the line in our group so it would’ve have been worth it for them.”

“We have dual ambitions here so we need to be very conservative about how we burn our matches,” White said. “Today was too hard for Caleb and we need to focus on our efforts across the full three weeks with Adam.”

How it happened:

The Giro d'Italia finally hit the mainland of Italy for stage six, with a windy and lumpy 217km journey.

After a more intense battle than previous days to form the breakaway, five riders established a move and rode out to an eight-minute advantage.

Behind, Cannondale shouldered much of the chase effort but then pulled off as the gap sat around five minutes.

Ahead, the breakaway preserved and they held a one and a half minute advantage as they hit the punchy climb to finish.

Two riders dropped off the pace, leaving three remaining to fox it out in the final with Dillier the winner.

Behind, the main overall contenders once again held their cards close to their chest, finishing together 39seconds adrift.